People keep talking and the Brunswick High School football team just keeps on ignoring them.

Friday night’s Pine Tree Conference clash between Brunswick and Brewer, like the Messalonskee and Skowhegan games before it, was supposed to be a competitive game. The Witches were supposed to come down to Brunswick and give the Dragons their first real challenge of the season. Moving to 6-0 and breaking the so-called “Week 6 curse” was supposed to be difficult.

Simply put, it was anything but.

Brunswick jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a dominant 42-12 win.

“It’s great,” Brunswick running back Hunter Garrett said. “We finally broke the Week 6 curse. The seniors, we’ve been here two, three times before — we’ve lost week 6 and it feels great to break the curse.”

The Dragons are now 6-0 for the first time in recent memory and play their home finale this upcoming Friday against Mt. Blue (7 p.m.).

After a big opening kick return by Sam Dorval, quarterback Christian Jensen and his offense started at the 43-yard line and took advantage of the field position promptly. Two solid runs from Jesse Devereaux and a Brewer (5-1) penalty brought Brunswick to the edge of the red zone, where Garrett broke free on a 14-yard scoot to set up Devereaux inside the 10. The senior running back/linebacker punched it in for a 6-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

Four Brewer plays later and the Dragons had the ball at midfield again. Garrett took the opening snap of the drive 44 yards down the sideline before capping things off with a 3-yard touchdown run. Another Brewer punt, a 50-yard trick-play pass from Devereaux to Jackson Gordon and a second Garrett touchdown later, and it was 20-0 before the Witches even blinked.

“Unbelievable speed,” Brewer coach Nick Arthers said of Brunswick’s offense. “We watched a ton of film, we thought we had a great game plan and they really showed their speed. They played the better game tonight.”

Garrett led the always-dominant Brunswick rushing attack with 153 yards and two touchdowns. While Devereaux (88 yards, three touchdowns) and Ben Palizay (80 yards) often rushed it up the gut, Garrett broke free on the outside multiple times, sprinting for 14, 17, 40 and 44 yards on four of his 10 carries.

“It’s a pretty big advantage,” Garrett said of the lateral speed. “They have a lot of big guys and they’re tough to take down and block and move around. Just having that speed on the outside is really helpful.”

Jensen added a 9-yard touchdown pass to Corban Teel before Devereaux scored again and made the score 36-0 before halftime. Jensen finished 4-of-8 through the air with the lone touchdown.

Dominant defense

On the other side of the ball, Brewer was consistently stuffed by the Dragons’ defensive line. Out of the six offensive drives for the Witches in the first half, one ended in a fumble, one an interception and one a turnover on downs — the other three were punts. On one drive in the middle of the second quarter, five penalties in a row moved the ball back over 50 yards.

“We show up to play, a couple things go wrong here and there, and they start to pile on to each other,” Arthers said. “That’s just how the first half went.”

Arthers leaned on senior running back/linebacker Ray Wood heavily on offense, handing him the ball 13 times in the first half. Despite his size, Brunswick often tracked him down at the line and forced three negative-yardage plays. He managed just 46 yards before the break.

“We just executed,” Cooper said of the dominance up front. “We use our angles, we trap, we block down and double-team occasionally. We just got them off balance and got after them. They seemed to get very frustrated when they couldn’t move the ball.”

In all, Brewer committed 11 penalties and didn’t get things going until the second half. Wood led a long, 74- yard drive for the Witches at the end of the third quarter, making the score 36-6 on a 4- yard push with 3:44 left on the clock. Three drives later, though, Brunswick answered with a 61-yard touchdown march of its own, headlined by a 32-yard scoot from Palizay.

Even with a running clock, Cooper kept his starters in and didn’t let up until the final drive of the game.

“We just practiced all week with tough work and commitment,” Garrett said. “We played as a team and we came out here saying ‘every play is one play at a time. Whoever wins each play, it’s just a series game.’ I think we came out and we played play-by-play and the results showed.”

Brewer’s Garrett Ireland (42 yards) added a touchdown with 2:39 remaining to get the Witches to 12 points. Wood finished with 95 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

It was an elated Brunswick sideline after the game, but with practice at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Brewer was in the rear-view mirror quickly.

“We’re feeling pretty happy, but we’re not satisfied,” Cooper said. “These kids, they want to win the state championship. Until that happens, they’re going to keep working hard.”

Brunswick 42,
Brewer 12

Friday, at Brunswick High School
Brewer— 0 0 6 6 — 12
Brunswick— 12 24 0 6 — 42
First quarter
(Bruns) — Jesse Devereaux 7 run
(kick blocked), 8:30.
(Bruns) — Hunter Garrett 3 run (run
failed), 5:07.
Second quarter
(Bruns) — Hunter Garrett 2 run
(Jesse Devereaux run), 11:34.
(Bruns) — Corban Teel 9 pass from
Christian Jensen (Jesse Devereaux
run), 6:26.
(Bruns) — Jesse Devereaux 1 run
(Ben Palizay run), 2:50.
Third quarter
(Brew) — Ray Wood 4 run (run
failed), 3:44.
Fourth quarter
(Bruns) — Jesse Devereaux 2 run
(kick failed), 8:24.
(Brew) — Garrett Ireland 1 run (run
failed), 2:39.
Records — Brunswick 6-0, Brewer 5-
1.
Up next for the Dragons — This Friday at home against Mt. Blue, 7 p.m.